Ranma Alternative
by NLK
Summary: Ranmas Curse has an adverse effect on the Neko-Ken. Fearing for his life, Genma abandons Ranma to his fate. Three months later than planned a different Ranma shows up on the doorstep of the Tendo Dojo.
1. Arrival

The rain was hammering down mercilessly onto the roofs of Nerima. Lampposts lining the streets stood like beacons against the darkened sky. A lone figure was walking the streets, carrying a huge umbrella to protect itself from wind and water. The figure passing under a streetlight revealed a young man with a pigtail wearing travel stained chinese clothes and a large backpack.

He was crossing back and forth from one side of the street to the other, stopping at houses to check name and address. His steps were sluggish with fatique. Cold seeped through his thin clothes and made him shiver. He tried to push his thoughts away from the gnawing Hole that was his stomach. How long was it since he had eaten something? Two days? Maybe more? On the road days seemed to blend together from time to time. Unrelenting he drove himself forward. He was a man and a martial artist! He wouldn't back down from something like this. This was nothing!

That's what he would have liked to say, but his legs chose that moment to give out from under him and only his lightning fast reflexes and the butt of his umbrella kept him from falling right into a puddle of rainwater.

Drained he leaned onto the wooden staff of his rain shield and heaved a heavy sigh.

"Damn it, old man! Where have you run off to?"

* * *

Akane Tendo was in her family's dojo doing her exercises with a look of fiery determination on her face. The stakkato of raindrops against the roof of the training hall played the rhythm to her dance of flowing forms, punches and kicks.

Beads of sweat glistened on her pale skin. Her short blackish blue hair was tousled from the speed of her spins and turns. She still regret cutting it short again but it had been necessary. Long hair got into the way in her fights. And fighting she did a lot since all those high power martial artists showed up in Nerima.

She may be on friendly terms with Ukyo and even Ryoga, despite him being a boy and acting kind of weird around her, but their skill was on a completely different level and it irked her to no end. The Hentai-Horde getting more desperate by the day didn't really help matters. She still couldn't believe that slimeball Kuno was holding back on her all this time!

The thought fuelled her anger and her movements grew in intensity and power. She had to get stronger! She had to! She couldn't lose against those perverted boys. God knows what would happen to her if one of them managed to defeat her. The prospect made her shiver on the inside, like thousands of ants crawling underneath her skin.

Her enthusiasm for the art had been growing more and more in those last few months. It became the focus of her daily life, overshadowing the lesser details like her homework, her friends or her hidden infatuation with Dr. Tofu. He was in love with Kasumi anyways!

Quickly she quelled the uprising feelings of loneliness and concentrated on her workout, her way to escape all the pain of this world.

The sound of thunder shook her out of her routine. It was silly, really. She was a martial artist, but she was still afraid of thunderstorms.

A brief look at the clock on the wall showed that she had been training almost half an hour longer than usual. She had completely forgotten about the time! She needed to hurry and wash up before dinner was ready.

Another crash of thunder made her cringe. She silently pitied the poor souls who were still out there or on their way back home. Well, nobody was stupid enough to stay outside in this weather for long.

* * *

Ranma sneezed.

Cursing his fate he decided to abandon the search for today and look for shelter. Running around with a cold wouldn't do him any good.

Just then he passed a huge old fashioned property with a high wall and a wooden gate. "_Oh well, one more house won't do any harm._" He thought.

He stopped before the entrance and scrunched his eyes to read the big wooden sign with the dim glow the streetlights provided.

A flash of lightning revealed Ranma Saotome frozen to the spot, his eyes wide. Tendo Dojo. _Tendo Dojo! _He had found countless Tendo families in Tokyo and the surrounding area but never one with a dojo. This could be it! This could be the home of his father's old training partner he always used to mention. His mind was spinning, but he forced his euphoria down to the hard ground of reality and tried to rationalize.

Even if it was his father's old training partner he couldn't be sure to find any clues to his old man's whereabouts.

_"Just don't get your hopes up too high."_ He reminded himself.

He wished he had a way to tell the time. The thunderstorm had been raging for quite a while and he couldn't estimate how far into the evening it was with all this darkness. He just hoped it wasn't too late to intrude. Didn't want to be impolite, didn't want to remain near anyone longer than necessary. Too dangerous.

Precariously he entered the grounds and walked to the front entrance. There was light still burning inside, so he rang the doorbell. After a short while a girl in her late teens opened the door. She was wearing an apron and was offering him a warm, polite smile.

"Oh my! A guest! You must be frozen. Would you care to come inside?"

Dumbstruck by the girl's polite demeanor and open hospitality he let himself be led into the house. He usually didn't receive that kind of reaction. More often it was disdain or even hostility a ronin like him experienced.

"Erm…is this the Tendo Family?" he asked timidly.

The girl just smiled and nodded. "Yes. I'm Kasumi Tendo. Pleased to make your acquaintance." She introduced herself with a small bow.

"Is a Soun Tendo staying here?" He tried not to let the hope show in his voice too much.

"Why yes. Father is in the living room. And whom should I announce?" She still was all smiles.

"Oh, I'm sorry. The name is Ranma. Ranma Saotome." He replied sheepishly.

"Then please follow me." She led him into a spacious room with two more occupants of the house. A young girl with short blue hair was watching television while a middle aged man in a brown gi sat at the table engrossed in a newspaper.

"Father, there is a guest for you." Kasumi announced him.

Soun Tendo looked up from his paper. His face was still youthfull, his hair and mustache impeccably kept. His eyes were keen although they were a little lifeless and seemed to have lost a certain sparkle.

"I am Soun Tendo. Welcome to my home." His voice was a pleasant baritone. "Surely you are a traveller in seek of shelter from this horrid storm, am I right?"

"Well actually…erm, my name is Ranma Saotome." His words caught the attention of the middle aged man.

"Saotome?" Soun whispered astonished.

"Yes. I was wondering if you knew my father Genma." Ranma was now positively excited if a little anxious. That girl with the short blur hair was fixating him with a measuring glare as if he was an especially repulsive spot of dirt.

"Of course I know Genma! We were training partnes back when. It has been ten long years! How is Genma?. About three months ago I received a card foretelling the end of the training trip and your arrival, but the two of you never showed up." Soun seemed positively delighted.

"Well, you see…I was hoping you knew where to find him. We got kinda…separated." He tried not to sound too dejected. It was still hard saying the truth out loud. That his father abandoned him. _"Stupid pops! Stupid coward!"_

"Seperated? Oh well, he's bound to show up here sooner or later. So you will surely meet him again, haha." Soun Tendo seemed a little nervous.

"I will?" Ranma was clueless.

"Yes of course! You see, the truth is, before you were born your Father and I made a pact…"

"Daddy…" the blue haired girl growled. It sounded dangerously like a last warning.

At that moment another girl with short brown hair in a page boy cut choose to enter the room. "Hey daddy! If the storm goes on like this we'll have to call someone to take a look at the roof tomorrow. Or what's left of it."

Then she spotted Ranma. "A guest? Daddy, what did I tell you about picking up freeloaders?"

Ranma decided he didn't like the girl.

"Nabiki! Good, you're here too. All of you need to be present for this." Soun seemed very rushed now. "Ramna, my boy! These are my daughters. Kasumi, 19 years old, Nabiki, 17 years old and Akane, 16 years old. Pick one. She will be your fiancée."

"Oh no, you don't!" Akane.

"What's the meaning of this!" Nabiki.

"Oh my!" Kasumi.

Ranma was shock out of words.

"Now, now. Ranma's father and I have made a promise to unite the schools before any of you were born. This is a matter of family honor. We had this discussion before." Strong words uttered by a meek voice. The head of the house seemed to shrink into his seat under the gazes of his three daughters.

"This is not the middle ages, daddy! You can't just tell us who to marry without us having a say in it!"

"Oh well. At least he's cute." Nabiki stated matter of factly.

"Actually I'm not interested in younger men…" Kasumi added.

"What about me?" Ranma asked agitated. "Nobody told me anything about this engagement business!"

"Oh, come off it! Don't pretend to be shocked. As if a boy would complain when he can choose himself a girl." Akane's voice was full of contempt.

"I'm not like that! I didn't ask for any of this!" Ranma's voice became more heated.

"Like anyone would believe that! All boys are perverts! And besides, Daddy, do you think someone like him could carry on the dojo?" Akane pointed at Ramna's ragged form.

"What's that supposed to mean!" This girl was really getting on his nerves.

"That means that I could beat you up in no time and prove that this whole engagement thing is nothing but a fluke!"

"Is that a challenge!"

"You bet it is!"

"Erm…that would be a problem." Ranma was all of a sudden rather nervous.

"Why? Are you chickening out already?" Akane didn't lower her voice at all.

"NO! It's not like that! I just…I don't hit girls." he finished rather lamely.

Ranma's statement brought Akane's temper to the boiling point. "You jerk! You won't even touch me! If you should manage to, you win. If I win, this engagement stuff is history!"

"Fine! Bring it on!" Ranma knew that losing would solve this mess his father had ridden him into but he could not let his pride suffer like this.

Two fuming martial artists, a concerned Kasumi, an indifferent but slightly curious Nabiki and a Soun Tendo at the verge of tears marched off to the dojo.

The two combatants faced off in the dojo. Akane in an aggressive offense stance and Ranma in a loose, almost relaxed stance.

"Ready? Here I go!" Akane launched a series of complex attacks and combos at Ranma, but he sidestepped every move seemingly without effort. Every punch aimed at his face hit only air, every kick rushed by him without impacting. He ducked and jumped and leaned out of the way, dancing around the deadly forms Akane was throwing at him.

"What's wrong with you! Fight back!" Akane was getting nervous. It was as if he was reading her mind.

Ranma was beginning to think that this was a bad idea from the start. His sight just wouldn't focus properly and it was all he could do to keep his knees from wobbling. The girl was good. Very good. He could take her if he was in good shape, no doubt about that, but right now he desperately fought to keep from keeling over. He had ignored his fatigued state too much. Bad mistake.

Akane's mind was reeling. She couldn't lose. Not against a boy! She needed to end this with one blow. Her enemy was standing near the wall. He was cornered and he seemed to be pretty much out of breath. Good! Now was the chance. She gathered herself and rushed him with an almighty battle cry. Her fist sped forward. But instead of hitting Ramna she struck the wall which shattered under the force of her blow.

_"He disappeared! Where is he?"_ Akane was frantic now.

Suddenly she froze as she felt a finger tapping her on the back of her head. Looking like a deer caught in the headlights she whipped around and stared at Ranma. A smirk was beginning to form on his face, but it was fast turning into a grimace.

Akane mind went into overdrive. Her arduously attained self confidence crumbled like dry leaves. She lost. Against a boy! Against a boy who now could choose to pick one of her sister like a piece of meat on the market. Oh god! He could choose her! She wouldn't be able to defend herself against a fighter of his skill. He could do whatever he wants and she would be helpless.

While Akane was fighting to keep her fears from taking over she completely missed Ranma collapsing in front of her from exhaustion.


	2. The truth is

„Oh my!"

Kasumi quite nicely summed up the scene in front of her. Ranma, the houseguest was lying flat out cold on the floor of the family dojo and her little sister was frozen stiff, staring off into space with wide eyes. Quickly Kasumi slipped out of the training hall.

Soun Tendo, head of the Tendo household was in a state of bliss. Such a fine young martial artist. Even in his worn out state he managed to defeat his daughter and heir in record time. _"The schools will be united!"_ He exclaimed joyfully in thought.

Nabiki tiptoed forward carefully and stood next to her little sister. She poked Akane in the ribs with her finger and waved a hand in front of her face. No reaction.

"Sheesh! Come on Akane, it's not the end of the world. You may have lost a bet, but just look at him!" she pointed at the unmoving heap of Ranma on the ground. "He sure doesn't look like he has won the fight."

Nabiki felt a weight dragging on her arm and looked down to see her sister fingers cramped into the fabric of her sweater, holding on for dear life. She looked up to find tears forming in Akane's eyes.

_"Damn it. I'm no good at this emotion business. Where's Kasumi when you need her?"_ Nabiki was worried.

On cue, Kasumi returned to the dojo with a glass of water and seeing Akane being taken care of by Nabiki she kneeled down beside Ranma.

"Poor dear. He must have been exhausted travelling outside in this storm." Kasumi splashed the water on the young martial artist fully and only intending to wake him up.

Well, it did wake him up, alright.

A disgruntled, redheaded and definitely female Ranma jumped up from her lying position to land again on all fours. The Tendos where startled to say the least. Even Akane was brought out of her stupor by the sudden change in gender on behalf of her newest nemesis. Even more confusing were the low, rumbling growls Ranma uttered from her crouched position. They sounded unmistakeably cat-like.

Neko-Ranma was in a highly alerted state. Confused and scared she took in her situation. All around her were unfamiliar faces. She backed away, hissing warnings at the humans. Something inside her told her, that she musn't hurt those people. Fine by her. As long as they didn't attack, she won't have to hurt them.

That was when she discovered the male in the group of humans. A surge of dislike welled up in her. For some reason the presence of this person agitated her. Her rage built. She arched her back and extended her claws. Hate. She was going to get rid of this troublesome individual. Neko-Ranma pounced.

Still stunned by Ranma's sudden metamorphosis, Soun almost didn't react in time as Neko-Ranma came flying at him with her arms extended. Acting on instinct and his trained reflexes he barely managed to doge the swipe of Ranma's hands which reduced the floorboards he was sitting on a moment before to splinters.

Panicked the Tendo family moved together and backed away from the hissing and growling form of the young martial artist turned female, turned cat. Ranma began advancing towards the bunch of Tendos.

Akane stepped up in front and assumed a defensive position. "Leave my family alone!" she cried. Maybe she was no match for him…her…whatever! But she was not going to let her family come to harm. However, try as she might, she couldn't stop the trembling of her feet as she awaited the next attack.

An attack which never came.

Neko-Ranma surveyed the girl who called out to her with curiosity. A strange emotion filled her. Something alike to kinship. A voice in her mind told her, that this was a fellow warrior. Someone who protected her family just like she would if she still had a family.

Akane relaxed slightly when she saw Ranma dropping his aggressive demeanor, but she immediately tensed up again as Kasumi stepped forward making soothing sounds. She wanted to call out to her sister and stop her, but kept silent as she saw that Ranma was making no move to attack Kasumi. On the contrary she seemed frightened and backed of from Kasumi's advancing form.

Carefully as not to frighten the girl any more than she already was, Kasumi kneeled down and beckoned to Ranma. She put on her most warming smile and tried to appear as harmless as possible. "Here kitty! Don't be afraid."

Ranma kept his eyes on Kasumi as she approached. She didn't detect any harmful intent from this person so she tentatively sniffed at her hands. The older girl smelled of soap and cooking. Smells of home. She gave a timid meow as she felt a warm hand gently caressing her head. Slowly Neko-Ranma lay down at Kasumi's feet and curled up into a ball, purring fitfully.

Kasumi continued to pet Ranma until she realized that the girl had fallen fast asleep. "My, what are going to do now?"

"Yes, daddy." Nabiki's voice was icy. "What now? You better have some good ideas and a decent explanation as well!"

"I don't know what happened!" Soun defended himself. "Genma never mentioned anything like this in his letters!"

"Are you still planning on engaging one of us to someone like her?" Nabiki demanded.

"Well…haha. It's kind of late and Ranma must be very tired. Lets move him to the guest room for now and talk about this tomorrow." Soun tried to hold on to his last shreds of authority.

"Wait!" Akane spoke up. "We can't let him stay here! He is dangerous!"

"You gonna throw her out into the rain and wake her up again?" Nabiki asked, oozing sarcasm.

"No! Of course not. Just for tonight is okay, I guess." Akane seemed mollified.

"Alright. Help me carry her. Let's be careful not to wake her." Kasumi picked Ranma up and carried her to the guest room with the help of her sisters.

Mentally and bodily exhausted the Tendo family went to bed while the storm continued to rage on outside.

* * *

Akane tossed and turned in her bed, her sleep troubled. The world outside was waking from its slumber, coated in a ocean of dew and raindrops from the previous thunderstorm. The sun broke through the thinning clouds and light poured through Akane's window, illuminating her face. 

Slowly her eyes began to open. The blinding light of the morning sun made her shut them again immediately. She groaned in irritation. She had a really weird and unpleasant dream involving a travelling martial artist who was to be engaged to her or one of her sisters. As if that wasn't troublesome enough, when splashed with water the boy changed into a girl with the mind of a cat and attacked her family. It had to be a dream. It was definitely too weird to be real.

She threw on her jogging clothes and went down towards the kitchen to greet Kasumi. She was the only one getting up as early than her. After a quick "good morning" Akane sprinted towards the gate as fast as she could. When her feet hit the still damp road her gloomy thoughts evaporated. It was a beautiful morning. Running was her freedom. Amidst the the waking birds her footsteps raced down the street towards the rising sun.

Kasumi was grateful that Akane seemed her usual cheerful self and didn't harbour any hard feelings about last night. She really wasn't good at dealing with boys. Maybe that would change, now that one was living under the same roof with them. Idly she wondered if Ranma would be very hungry and added some extra rice in her preparations for breakfast.

About an hour later Akane came down from her after-jogging-bath to join her family at the breakfast table. Nabiki was fighting the morning sleepiness with liberal amounts of coffee and her father was reading his trademark newspaper. Kasumi was looking around making sure everyone was served.

"Isn't Ranma up yet?" Kasumi sounded a bit worried.

"It's better to let him sleep in Kasumi. After all, he had a very tiring journey." Soun answered.

Akane's chopsticks stopped halfway to her mouth. "R…Ranma?" She asked in panicked doubt.

"Yeah, Ranma. Did you already forget about him, little sis?" Nabiki was slowly getting out of her stupor. Teasing Akane was always fun, if a little dangerous, like playing tag with a cobra.

"I thought…nevermind." Akane's mood hit rock bottom. She looked down at her food to find that she wasn't hungry anymore. "I'm finished." She announced in a terse voice.

"Akane…" Kasumi began, but her little sister already got up, fetched her bookcase and was on her way to the door.

"I'm off to school. Bye!" Akane shouted from the entrance hall, followed by the sound of the door closing hard.

"You think she's still mad about it?" Soun asked tentatively.

Both his daughters sighed and shook their heads in exasperation.

Akane was fuming. She was angry at herself for losing. She was angry at her father for making them do something they didn't want or ask. But most of all she was angry at Ranma. A small voice in the back of her head told her, that Ranma may be just a victim like herself and her sisters. He wasn't all that happy with the engagement either. Still, he didn't have to act like such a jerk. Honestly! Boys!

Immersed in her internal tirade, Akane looked up to find herself in front of the gates of Furinkan High School already. From the inside dozens of shuffling feet and muttering voices could be heard. The moment they spotted her, the chattering stopped and the Hentai-horde charged forward with their usual battlecries.

"Akane! I will beat you and earn the right to date you!"

"Go out with me, Akane!"

"Don't let yourself get beat by those losers! Let ME do it!"

Yes, boys. _"Jerks, ALL of them!"_ Akane thought fiercely and rushed in for the attack, bent on vending some of her frustration.

* * *

Ranma woke to an unfamiliar ceiling. Waking to a roof above his head was uncommon enough to him as it is. The ceiling puzzled him. Sitting up he tried to organize the thoughts in the sleep muddled fog that was his mind. His hands grabbed something soft. A futon. He hadn't slept on a futon in ages. A look out of the window showed that it was early evening. Had he been sleeping the whole day? 

He stood up and looked around. He was in a semi large room of old fashioned design. Tatami mats lined the floor. Everything was neat and clean.

"Whose house is this?" he wondered quietly to himself. Yesterday when the storm hit he could have sworn he abandoned his search for the Tendos and…_Tendo!_

With the might of a sledgehammer the memories rushed back. The engagement. The match with Akane. "_Oh shit!"_ He went into Neko-Ken! _"What happened? Did I hurt someone?"_ The memories of his episode were blurred. Realizing something he looked down at himself to discover that HE was now a SHE! Groaning she left the room and headed downstairs with a leaden feeling of anticipation.

Silently she entered the kitchen and spotted Kasumi making dinner. The rumbling of her stomach at the sight of food gave her away.

"Oh my! Hello Ranma. I was worried when you wouldn't wake up. You missed breakfast and lunch." Kasumi greeted her cheerfully.

With her insides churning she forced herself to formulate the question. "Kasumi, I…I didn't hurt anyone last night, did I?" Her voice came out weak and timid despite her trying to make it sound convincing.

"You gave us all quite a scare." Kasumi answered good naturedly. "But don't worry, no one came to harm."

Ranma released a breath she didn't realise she was holding.

"Surely you must be hungry. Dinner will be ready in a bit. You can wait in the living room with father until then." Kasumi turned back to her tasks.

"Thank you Kasumi. And could you please boil some water for me?" Ranma's relief was still audible in her voice.

"Of course, Ranma." Kasumi smiled.

The air was heavy with an expectant silence. The whole Tendo Family plus Ranma sat gathered around the dinner table, not speaking a word. Ranma was hungry enough to devour the delicious food in front of her in mere seconds, but she forced herself to be patient. They deserved an explanation.

"I guess you all want to know what is going on. It's best I start with the Neko-Ken." Ranma broke the silence.

"Neko-Ken?" Soun echoed incredulously.

"What is that?" Nabiki asked.

"Basically it's a technique that teaches you to fight like a c-c-cat." Ranma shuddered. "My stupid pops found the idea in an old training manual, but it's completely useless! I have almost no control over it and it made me deadly afraid of c-c-c…felines." It still hurt admitting his fear. He was a martial artist! He shouldn't fear anything! So he thought, despite the fact that he was a she for the moment.

"How did you learn this cat-stuff?" Akane asked. Boy or not, martial arts techniques piped her interest.

Ranma gulped. That was the unpleasant part. "Erm…it's stupid really. The technique was never meant to be used anyway! Only that Pops didn't read that part of the instructions till afterwards."

Akane's gaze was unrelenting.

Ranma sighed and forced himself to continue. "You collect a horde of stray c-c-cats and let them starve for a few days. Then you wrap the trainee in fish products and throw him down the p-pit."

The round of Tendos at the table wore a shocked expression.

"My stupid old man repeated that day after day until I…_learned_ the technique. The truth is I just snap when my fear of…felines gets overwhelming. I act like a c-c-cat. I can't always remember too clearly what I'm doing in Neko-Ken and I can't really control it either. For strangers or people I'm indifferent against it is harmless most of the time. But when my c-c-cat form gets agitated…" Ranma left the sentence hanging.

"But last night you went neko after you got splashed with water." Akane's voice was uncertain. She felt not a little sympathy for the horrors the young man, now woman, had to endure. _Him_ being a girl right now didn't make _him_ as repulsive as before as well.

"That's because of the Jusenkyo Curse. Don't know why, but it triggers the Neko-Ken. I change when I get in contact with cold water. Stupid Pops dragged me to this training ground in china without bothering to ask what happens when you fall into one of the springs." Ranma's voice became more scornful as the memories resurfaced.

"The legendary training ground of Jusenkyo." Soun intoned awe inspired. "It's true horror has always been shrouded in mystery, but now…"

"Feh! True horror my ass. When I get my hands on pops I'm gonna show him true horror." Ranma rambled, half to himself. "My old man left shortly after that. Just gone without a word. Probably feared for his hide, the coward." Ranma spoke the word disdainfully.

The room was silent once again. Mutual contempt towards Genma Saotome matched the thoughts of the female occupants and even Soun Tendo had to admit that his old friend had fallen from grace.

"You can understand it was not easy looking for Pops. With my condition I'm more or less a threat to everyone around me." Ranma spoke up again.

Akane's heart went out to the girl in front of her. Her voice sounded so broken and defenseless it made her want to comfort her. That is, if she wasn't really a boy, she added hastily to her thoughts.

"Oh well." Ranma sighed. "At least I change back with hot water." He demonstrated so with the glass of hot water Kasumi fetched for him earlier.

Soun's expression brightened visibly as the young martial artist regained his male form. "Well, if hot water is all you need to change back…your problem isn't so bad after all." Soun's laugh sounded hollow even to his own ears.

"Ain't you forgetting something there, Mr. Tendo." Ranma asked in a flat voice. _Not so bad after all_ was surely not too fitting a choice of words to describe the Neko-Ken.

"Setting that aside…" Soun cleared his throat. "About the engagement…"

_"Oh blast! I completely forgot about that! But…he can't still be serious, can he?"_ Ranma froze and watched Soun with wide incredulous eyes.

"Did you come to a decision about my daughters?" Sound was sweating. A part of him was wondering if he did the right thing. But the families had to be joined and the future of the Anything Goes martial arts secured! Only then could he rest peacefully with the thought of having accomplished something in his life.

"I don't think…" Ranma began nervously.

"But the honor of the schools is at stake! The honor of the family!" Soun all but wailed.

"I'm not like my father! I know what honor is about…" Ranma said with a heavy heart. "But considering my situation I think it's not my decision to make, but your daughters, if they want to agree to this engagement or not." He was sure they would see reason.

_"Damn right he is!"_ Akane thought, slighty astounded by Ranma. _"And not in a hundred years is anyone of us going to approve of this!"_

"Oh I'm sure Akane will say yes!" Kasumi said sweetly. _"This is a good opportunity for Akane to learn to get along with men again."_ She thought, full of sisterly concern.

"What!" Akane shrieked in a high voice.

"Yeah." Nabiki drawled. "Akane will take good care of him."

"Nabiki!" Akane's voice was a blend of panic and outrage.

"What? I thought you didn't like men. You're in luck! He is half girl." Nabiki delivered in a perfectly reasonable tone.

"And half cat!" Akane now sounded more angry than panicked.

"Well, then it's settled! Akane will be your fiancée." Soun tried to act dignified and authoritative but failed miserably.

"Me marry that perverted freak? Never!" Akane stood up vehemently.

Ranma was quickly getting furious. What was it with that girl! It's not like this was his fault! "Do you think I want to marry an uncute macho-chick like you?"

Whoops! He said that aloud, didn't he?

"Why you…!" Akane's face went red. With a growl she picked up the dinner table and held it high above her head intending to smash the offending individual in front of her.

Ranma cringed and reflexively put his hands in front of his face in a defensive position. He froze when he caught sight of the now cold contents of a teacup splashing his way. It was too late to dodge. He closed his eyes and waited for the worst.

A dull thump drove the air out of his lungs and sent him flying backwards through the room. He landed hard against the wall. Shaking his head to clear the stars in his vision he noticed a soft weight pinning him down. Looking down he spotted Akane lying on his chest just as she lifted her head. Their eyes locked.

Both blushed.

Awkwardly she scampered off him and stood woodenly. "D-don't get any ideas, pervert! I just wanted to protect my family from you going Neko again, is all!" She declared with a certain waver in her voice.

"Oh my! How sweet. She saved him!" Kasumi was smiling blissfully.

"A truly selfless and heroic act. What touching devotion!" Nabiki did a perfect imitation of Kuno.

"Wahhh! The schools will be joined!" Soun wailed happily.

"Quit it, you three!" Akane exclaimed unnerved.

Ranma wondered if he wouldn't have been better off staying in China.

* * *

Author's notes:

Thank you so much for your reviews! I highly appreciate it.

One point that was mentioned in the reviews was Nabiki's initial comment being too mercenary, even for her. Thank you for pointing that out. Truth is, in part I agree with you ShadowBakaSama. Originally I planned to use this negative impression Nabiki made on Ranma in the second chapter at the episode with the Neko-Ken but discarded the idea later on. I choose to let Nabiki's comment stay, because it seemed to fit her to some degree and I didn't have any other lines in chapter one that characterized her. With the prospects of repair costs for the roof coming up, Nabiki would be in a sour mood and then spotting Ranma in his torn clothes, obviously a guest for a night, I think it's reasonable to assume she could have let that comment slip. But that's just my opinion.

I nearly regretted putting out chapter one before chapter two was finished as I read the wild and imaginative ideas some reviewers had considering Ranma's Neko-Ken. My approach was from the beginning more of a conservative fashion. I hope I have not disappointed you too much. I wanted to put Ranma in a situation where he had to grow up fast in a short amount of time. Sadly the best way is to put him into a unpleasant situation. The two banes of his existence (before the fiancees), his girl-form and the Neko-Ken combined. Add to that the first time in his life Ranma had to fend completely for his own for three months in a country which language he didn't speak. Ranma's sense of honor would have presented a problem as well with him not that prone to stealing to survive like his father.

I try to keep closely to the canon storyline at first and throw in more and more of my own ideas until a completely different Ranma universe is formed. As a result everything in the earlier chapters will seem somewhat familiar to all you Ranma Fans, but I hope I will achieve enough variation by moving the starting point of my story up three months into the canon timeline.

And last but definitely not least an apology to L.McClown. I did intent to try and dare to tease the readers by not showing the effects on the Neko-Ken immediately. I'm sorry if that didn't meet with your taste. Hopefully you will find this chapter more satisfying.

Thanks again and I hope you enjoy the read.


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